When I Think About
by Rui
Summary: Ryoko has something on her mind. Tenchi, unknowingly, has something else similar on his


When I think about Angels 

When I Think About...

* * *

Author's notes: Okay, this is a very Fluffy/Waffy fic that I thought of after hearing a song by Jamie O'Neal, after the first lyric "Why does the color of my coffee match your eyes" I pinned it down and said TENCHI FIC! So bare with me! 

Disclaimer: Don't worry, I use, but never abuse the characters. 

RoveR: Tell that to Ayeka, and Sakuya. 

* * *

Ryoko felt happy. She had no real reason to be so, except for the fact she couldn't get the Jurian prince out of her mind. Staring out the window, looking at the morning sun as it gently rose in the east, the woman sighed contentedly. Sasami would be in for one heck of a shock when she walked in to see the cyan haired pirate there. Known for her love to sleep in all days of the week, it was defiantly out of Ryoko's character to be up before the sun's fingers smeared away the night sky. 

The coffee maker popped several times, turning to the machine, Ryoko flipped the switch to 'warm' and grabbed a cup. Careful not to spill any of the hot liquid on the counter or on her hand, she filled the waiting cup with the steaming drink. Breathing in the heavy sent of caffeine, she closed her eyes, enjoying every bit of the smell. 

Opening her golden cat like eyes, the lady stared into the dark solution and smiled. 

/It matches the color of Tenchi's eyes./ She thought wistfully, bringing the warm coffee cup to her lips and daring a sip. What could be better than watching the sunrise with a nice hot cup of 'good to the last drop' coffee and Tenchi on her mind? 

* * *

Meanwhile, many miles away, Tenchi Masaki woke up from a dreamless slumber. Rubbing the sleep from his dark brown eyes, the boy stumbled into his kitchen and fixed the coffee maker, then pressed 'on'. 

/This was a lot easier when Sasami did it. / Tenchi thought groggily, scratching and stretching as he went through his morning routine. Finally, with a cup of warm coffee, the boy slid his balcony door open and stepped out into the morning breeze. 

With one small whiff of the air, Masaki noted to himself, "Uh-oh smells like rain." 

That didn't prevent the sun from coming up, it desperately tried to reach into the higher skies, trying to chase away the dreary darkness, but failed. The blend between the golden line of the sun's presence and the dark foreboding clouds made the sky an interesting color of blue. 

It took a moment before it clicked in Tenchi's mind, but when it did, he couldn't help but smile. Sampling his cooling morning brew, the boy pondered if college was a real necessity today, after all it was a half-a-day so they wouldn't be doing anything. 

/Maybe a trip home would do some good. / With that decided, the ponytailed one pivoted on his heels and walked back into the apartment to start packing. 

* * *

Dressed in a pair of short blue jeans shorts, and a black tank top, Ryoko had spent the majority of the day walking barefoot through the forest around the shrine. The day had started off wonderfully, and breakfast was surprisingly quiet. Neither her nor Ayeka had shared more than a few sentences of choice words. But nothing to blow up the house for. 

The sun's kind rays were warm as an embrace, and lit her path. Something was going to happen today, Ryoko had a feeling about it. Birds sung sweet songs, and filled the quiet space full of life. And her stomach didn't grumble once about not having a lunch or a fulfilling breakfast. There was only one thing missing before this day was perfect, and that was only found in Tokyo. 

Sighing, Ryoko shook her head clear of those thoughts. Last time she talked to her Tenchi was two days ago, and he had left no room for discussion when he told her not to come *ever* without his permission. So what if she'd sneaked into his bed at three in the morning, and spent the entire time curled up in his embrace? For once, she hadn't tried anything funny with him, and he _still_ got mad. 

The sun was sinking lower in the sky, smiling, she leapt in the air and started to fly towards the perfect spot to watch the sunset. On one of the forgotten ledges, over looking the lake, and past that, the hills swallowed with trees. If the beauty of the sun's rainbow colors setting over this scene wasn't enough, the memories made up for it. 

One of the only times that Tenchi reached out to her first. Just after he'd been brought back to the real reality, away from Haruna, and they'd been watching the sun set together. The boy had a wistful smile on his face about something, Ryoko smirked remembering how bothered she was by it, until at least, he made his move. Shyly at first, Tenchi reached out, then quickly, but tenderly grabbed Ryoko's hand and laced their fingers together. 

A quick blush painted her cheeks, as a soft sigh escaped from her smiling lips. Words weren't needed, it was just a waste of breath to say anything at that point. During the whole precession of the sun to twilight, they stood there, watching it in all the magnificence it had to offer. Afterwards, reluctantly, Ryoko pulled away and stared upon the boy-no, man's face with admiration. He closed his eyes, and reopened them, turning his face to stare at the lady at his side, and then Tenchi smiled. Not at a joke, not a fake one, but a genuine smile tweaked the corners of his mouth, and all of it was for her. 

It was perfect. With the memory replaying over and over, the pirate landed in the very spot on the mountain path, just in the nick of time. The sun seemed to yawn as a gust of warm wind swept the land, and pulled its multicolored blanket across the rippling lake, as it brushed it's golden hair through the trees. 

Dropping down to the earth gently, Ryoko crossed her legs in front of her and supported her weight on her arms. This was a show she didn't want to miss, but knew it would be better with someone else to watch it with. 

"Tenchi..." 

* * *

Tenchi was met earlier in the day with warmth and shouts of happiness. Nothing out of the ordinary about Ayeka's sparkling eyes when she saw him, Kiyone's quirked eyebrow as she silently questioned what he was doing home or the fact that Washuu wanted him as a lab rat. Sasami had rushed into the kitchen to prepare a special meal, as Mihoshi dragged him to the television set to watch some kiddie show with her. After three minutes of watching a blond guy chase women around, Tenchi noticed one of the party missing. 

"Where's Ryoko?" He'd asked at lunch, Ayeka 'hmphed' and said she'd left earlier in the day to avoid chores, like always. Someone remarked about the oddity that Ryoko hadn't come home for lunch, and everyone quickly agreed. After the meal was through and numerous praises were given to the small chief, Tenchi set out for a walk. He wasn't going to look for Ryoko, that was *not* the reason he started off in the same direction his father told him the woman went. It had just so happened the pirate picked the most beautiful path to follow. 

Maskai was a bit distraught after walking through his family's woods for close to four hours without site of the missing female. Worry started to gnaw at his mind. What if Ryoko had finally called it quits on him and left? Maybe he was a bit harsh the way he'd treated her a few days ago. But, Tenchi argued she had no right to sleep in the same bed with him. 

No matter how much he enjoyed holding her all night and then waking up to her innocent sleeping face. If he didn't lay down the law, then Ayeka would go ballistic, as would all the others, and just push the pirate into more bitterness. Shaking his head, Tenchi gazed up into the sky, beyond the thick foliage. 

"Almost sunset." He muttered to himself. A smile crept onto his face as a warm, not too old memory began to play in his mind. Without a thought, his feet set off in the general direction of the beloved cliff, there was going to be a full moon tonight so it wouldn't be a problem for him to find his way home. By then, Tenchi assured himself, Ryoko would be too hungry not to come back. If she was still on earth. 

There were things the young man wanted to tell the cyan haired woman, but if he ever breathed a word of it, the whole household would be in chaos. His Grandpa would remind him of his duties as Prince of Juria, and that he had to marry Ayeka, no matter how closely related they were. It wasn't his fault his Grandpa hefted the responsibilities of being a prince, in a selfish act. 

It was *his* choice, not some king's who lived light-years away, not because of who he was descendant of, but because he had taken the courage to stand up and say that his bride would be whoever she was to be. Sighing from deep within, Tenchi climbed over the last hill before reaching his destination, and was frozen in his tracks. 

The woman which had taken up so much time in his mind, who had yet to apologize to, who he had yet to truly kiss... 

Masaki's last thought lingered in his mind for a moment. There was a time he was tempted to conquer her lips, it was a perfect situation, perfect mode, and everything was wonderfully set up for it, everything except his courage. 

It was just after coming back, they'd watch the sun fall into the trees slowly at first. For some reason, and no will of his own, his hand searched for hers and their fingers interlaced. It took all his strength to focus on the site in front of him, and not the even better site beside him. When all of the spectacular colors settled to blue speckled with stars, Ryoko pulled away. 

Tenchi hadn't thought she would, but after she did the wind blew, cooling his palm and making a longing in his heart for her touch to return. Through the corner of his brown eyes, he saw the woman turn to him. If not her touch, then imprinting her face into his mind at this the most intimate moments they had shared to date would have to do. 

Closing his eyes, gathering his courage, Tenchi turned to look at her. Gold eyes lit with the internal flame of passion she always carried, her face was outlined barely with the softly glowing moon off in the far sky. Highlights of light spread through her cyan hair, which softly moved as the breeze ran its chilled fingers through it. Ryoko looked beautiful---was beautiful. 

A smile had conquered his lips, as he found that he was envious of that teasing wind. Tenchi's heart quietly whispered for his hands to run through that wild, odd colored hair, press his lips against hers and stay like that through out the night. But reality had checked in before he could do any of the suggestions. Sasami had come running over the small hill, where he now watched Ryoko, and claimed them for dinner. 

The moment between them had been dashed into bits, and the broken pieces were danced upon by the cruel fate. With lopsided smiles, and a few feet of space between them, Ryoko and Tenchi trudged along to where dinner had been made. Ayeka, for some reason he couldn't guess, gave a sympathetic look in their direction. 

"Tenchi..." 

His name shot him quickly out of the reveries. Did she know he was there? How long had she'd known? A careful look at her peaceful face, and he scratched those ideas out quickly. Knowing Ryoko, she'd glomped onto him the first chance she got. Like before, he called for his courage to approach the woman who seemed to be lost in thought. 

"Hey, Ryoko." 

At first Ryoko thought it was a dream, the chills slowly tracing her spine said otherwise. Turning her head around, she found the boy of her thoughts drawing closer. She swallowed a sudden lump caught in her throat, and waited for him. Then the bickering of only two days ago washed over her memories, taking the happiness away with it, and left the feeling of rejection to linger in its place. 

Her eyes, it was all in her eyes. It was Tenchi's turn to swallow down the emotion as he squatted down beside her, his face to her. Ryoko refused herself to look over, no matter how much she just wanted to tackle him to the ground in a backbreaking embrace. 

"Ryoko?" Tenchi questioned gently, letting himself drop down to his knees. "What's wrong?" 

"Whatdya want, Tenchi?" though her words were tough, and her voice equally as harsh her eyes betrayed her. A thin liquid line lined the bottom of her eyes, and when she blinked, it rolled down her cheek in a tear. 

"I'm sorry about what I did, " he began, causing her to look into his eyes. "I was just surprised, that's all." 

With the smile that broke out along her face, though small, he knew her forgiveness was shortcoming. Just as the night when they'd first come so close to a kiss, Tenchi felt as if the mischievous moon was caressing her face like a lover's touch. The tendrils of jealousy reached out and grabbed his heart once again. 

And then the question stood, would he do it? The way she looked, happy and sad, golden eyes brimming with recent tears, a small honest smile pulling on her lips-Tenchi knew he'd love to. 

Would he be man enough to actually move forward and take what he wanted? That was a different story. With a shaking hand, the man reached out and gently placed his hand on the side of her face. A grin lined his lips as Ryoko's cat like eyes widen in surprise at his actions. 

Ryoko only had the mind to stare and wallow in shock. Tenchi's palm was warm, and his callused fingertips turned to satin with the touch. There was something, a battle raging in his mind, that much she could tell. But what was it? Could this be what the feeling in the pit of her stomach she felt all day meant? And when did he get here? Why was he leaning closer to her face? 

Was he going to..? 

"Ryoko..." He softly whispered, a second before his lips brushed softly against hers. Again, Tenchi had to swallow, and adjust his position quickly to follow through with the act that was quickly eating up his courage. 

The last thing he thought would happen did---Ryoko pushed him away. 

Losing his balance, the black haired boy fell on his face, partaking of a healthy helping of dirt and rocks. Muttering, Tenchi pushed himself off the ground, spiting out the mud. Curious, questioning eyes filled with hurt glanced at the lady, the very last person, he thought would reject him. 

Ryoko had stood up, turned away from him, and became unearthly still. Tenchi didn't see the tears trickling down her paled face, or the shaky fingertips gently touching her lips. 

Did that really happen? Heart half full of hope, Ryoko glanced over her shoulder to the young man painted gold and dark brown from the sun's rays and shadows. His eyebrows retreated to his bangs, before coming down and knitting together in question. Tenchi's face was sprinkled with bits of dirt, and even a stray blade of grass. The site of him on his hands and knees, face colored and covered the way it was the confused look on his face made her laugh. 

"What's so funny?" Tenchi demanded, feeling the heat rise to his cheeks quickly. Using his strength in his arms, the young man pushed himself back on his legs, still staring at the giggling pirate. 

"You are." She replied, trying in vain to stifle her laughter. 

"Oh I am?" Tenchi's expression switched into a cocky grin as he clambered to his feet, taking a moment to brush off the dirt from his skin and clothes. After the insignificant chore, his eyes threaten trouble as a sudden playfulness launched him forward towards Ryoko. 

With an 'eep' of surprise, the pirate easily dodged his intended attack. While Tenchi met with another face full of dirt. 

"Is that the best you can do?" She mocked, throwing her head back with rich laughter as her love cleaned his face off from the muck. 

The same evil looking smirk conquered Tenchi's lips again, reaching up quickly, he wrapped a hand around her thin, unsuspecting ankle. With all his strength, and speed, Masaki pulled Ryoko down till her rear met earth, and then pounced on her, pinning her beneath him. 

"What where you saying?" He questioned, brown eyes shinning with triumph. 

Being so near to him took her breath away, then her trademark cocky expression took over. Wrapping her long arms around his neck, pulling the farm boy closer. 

"You know, Tenchi, I won't let you kiss and _not_tell." Ryoko purred. 

"You won't kiss at all!" Came a screech of protest from the woods. Soon thereafter, an angry, teary-eyed Ayeka stomped over to where the stunned couple still lay. 

Tenchi's face turned the color of blood as he quickly rolled off the now hysterically laughing space pirate. Ryoko held her sides as the rolls of giggling jumped into the air, and Ayeka matched Tenchi's crimson color, only instead of being embarrassed, hers was from pure anger. 

"Can't stand being second place, eh Princess?" Ryoko smirked playfully at the woman who was about to rip the cyan woman's head off. Flicking a piece of hair over her shoulder, Ryoko proudly strolled off towards the house. 

Tenchi couldn't help but swallow a lump of fear in his throat. It was dumb to make any of the females upset at him since they were all well trained in some type of lethal combat. Ayeka watched Ryoko go, and with a twitching eyebrow forced a smile when she began to talk to Tenchi. "Lord Tenchi," her words were said so sweetly he was sure her teeth must have a million cavities in them now. "I sincerely hope that Ryoko had just impressed her self upon you and that you----wouldn't lead a LADY or in this case, LADIES on." She seemed to think, "and in some cases I use the word lady VERY loosely." 

"A-ayeka," How could he put this were he wouldn't get killed? Maybe avoiding the topic all together? "How long have you been here?" 

Her eyebrow twitched in aggravation yet again. Tenchi swallowed hard again, he should have known better! 

* * *

"You seem to be in a good mood, Ryoko." Washu pointed out, "What'd you kill?" 

Ryoko, being in a more than cheerful and triumphantly mood smirked at her 'mother's' comment. "No one, but I do think Tenchi's going to come home with a few more bruises. And before anyone asks, -I- wasn't the one to give them to him." 


End file.
